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18 September 2013

Lilian Hall-Davis

Lilian Hall-Davis (1897-1933) was one of the brightest stars of the British silent cinema. For a while she was Hitchcock's Favourite Actress. Failing to make the transition to the talkies, she committed suicide.

Sexual Health Manual

Lilian (sometimes written as Lillian) Hall-Davis was born in London, England, in 1897. She was the daughter of an East End taxi driver. For publicity purposes, she reported her birthplace as the more fashionable Hampstead, London.

She started to work in film in 1917, first in the French film La p'tite du sixième (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1917), opposite Charles Vanel whom she would meet more often on film sets. Soon films followed like the comedy The Admirable Crichton (G.B. Samuelson, 1918), based on J.M. Barrie, and the war comedy The Better 'ole (George Pearson, 1919).

Hall-Davis became one of the leading actresses of the British silent cinema in the 1920s, playing in one film after another. She featured in Maisie's Marriage/Married Love (Alexander Butler, 1923), a controversial adaptation of Marie Stopes' sexual health manual Married Love. It was a key title in the establishment of British censorship.

British postcard by Rotary Postcards E.C.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag no. 5448. Photo: Lux Film Verleih.

Hitchcock Favourite Actress

Lilian Hall-Davis also played in a part-colour version of I Pagliacci (G.B. Samuelson, S.W. Smith, 1923) opposite Adelqui Migliar; Blighty (Adrian Brunel 1927) about the impact of the First World War on a rich family; Roses of Picardy (Maurice Elvey, 1927) with John Stuart; and Tommy Atkins (Norman Walker, 1928) about a love triangle, partly set in Egypt.

In the late 1920s, she was Alfred Hitchcock's favourite actress for a while. In The Ring (1927) she gave a fine performance as a simple fairground girl corrupted by a taste of the high life when her boyfriend (Carl Brisson) has success in the boxing ring. In The Farmer's Wife (1928) she is convincing as the housekeeper quietly waiting for her widowed master (Jameson Thomas) whom she has set her eyes on.

Warmth and Natural Presence

Lilian Hall-Davis' warmth and natural presence were also felt in her roles in foreign films. In Italy she played in the Italo-German super-production Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924) as the virtuous Lygia opposite the perverse Nero (Emil Jannings).

Depressions and Nervous Breakdowns

In 1927 Lilian Hall-Davis played in a sound experiment, the short comedy As We Lie, shot by Miles Mander in the DeForest Phonofilm system. Hall-Davis, however, failed to make it into the talkies.

Her last role was a minor part in the sound film Her Reputation (Sidney Morgan, 1931). By 1933 her career was over. She suffered from depressions and nervous breakdowns.

She killed herself in her home in Golders Green by turning on the gas and cutting her throat. Her 14-year old son Grosvenor found her suicide note, summoned for help, but it was too late. Lilian Hall-Davis died at the age of 34. She was married to the British stage actor Walter Pemberton and according to IMDb she played in a total of 44 films.

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